I found a book that makes some rather startling statements. What do you think about the following paragraph?

It is perfectly accurate in every way.

I don't think that we 'perfected' religion a millennium ago but that there was far less room for questioning or opinions when it came to religion so he would be far more confidant steadfast in his beliefs then we are today. With religion I think that the further back you go in time the purer and more true you will find it to be.

I understand this paragraph to mean that religion and technology can't really exist together in harmony and the more advanced we get, the less we believe or rely on faith. This is true.

Look at the Native Americans they had the ability and intelligence to create technology but chose to perfect their spirituality and closeness to God and the earth instead and of course they were almost completely destroyed by knowledge and technology of the early Europeans.

I am quite sure that there are more examples but I haven't finished my coffee yet!

Have a wonderful day!!

I disagree with Harris on this.

Religious concepts changed quite a bit during the 18th and 19th Centuries.

Even in the 17th century major changes happened.

So the 14th century ideas of God would not be well understood today.

Nor would the 14th century Christian understand many of the modern religious concepts.

He would know nothing of Calvinism, Arminism, Unitarianism or deism.

The ideas of St Robert Bellarmine that destroyed the divine rights of Kings would be unfamiliar to him. Nothing of the reformation or the European religious wars would be known to him.

In short, he would be a 14th century Catholic instead of a follower of modern religion

This does not mean that religion is progressive, it just means that religion has been forced into retreat for close to 7 centuries.

Edit: Pygonza's answer is a good one.

It is nonsense because that medieval Christian is stooped in Catholicism that was corrupt at that time, and was unaware of later archaeological discoveries like the dead sea scrolls and the Nag Hammadi texts. He would not have benefited from the Protestant Reformation or the Catholic Reformation. He would not have the larger world view that we have today nor had a chance and comparative religious studies. Our religious scholars today would blow him out of the water.

I beg to differ the early Christians also had knowledge of philosophy of the Roman pagan gods as well as plato and many other people of knowledge in that time sure there were many christians who were only knowledgeable of the scriptures but not all sure they wouldn't know of modern things such as the medicine we use today

i would counter simply,

you could take a man that is born in the late 19th century and he lives to see elvis and rock n roll

most of the generation he dies in condemn rock n roll as satanic and evil.

of course most christians and saints are going to despise atheistic control of modern society.

its all evil, and there is no shred of the constitution to give us the freedom of religion or speech or of the press.

the press is controlled by atheistic persons

the government is bought and paid for by bribes and black mail

most not all

the schools are hellishly censored because of separation of church and state, and yet they forgot to separate influence of the mob in government and satanic religion which fosters hatred and makes illegal laws that are unrighteous dominion.

there will never be an end of faith even if atheists and satanic/devil worshippers kill every last human that believed, there will always be ONE person that God finds that will be a believer

That could be said for anyone from the 14th century. If the author is trying to say technology, as well as everything else, has advanced. If technology, geography, or even medicine haven't changed much, I question his sources.

That's not startling at all, I have heard people say this countless times (well not as in depth or worded this way, but the same general idea nonetheless).

Provided 'well-educated' meant he was a scholar of Latin. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to read the Bible.

Lol